The Ani Maamin continues, יום בכל לו אחכה זה כל עם שיתמהמה פי על ואף שיבוא – Even if he tarries, I will wait each day for him to come. The famous niggun that we sing was composed by a Yid during the darkest of times, on the train that was taking him to a concentration camp. He understood that, like all of Klal Yisrael, he was traveling toward the Geulah. He hadn’t lost his grip on reality. He had no illusions about the Nazis’ plans; he knew that the train was carrying him to almost certain death. But he also knew that he was traveling to another destination, beyond the camps and beyond death.
If I see someone boarding a bus and ask him where he is going, he might reply with the name of a certain bus stop. Of course we understand that after he gets off the bus, he won’t remain at that stop. He will continue on to his true destination.
In fact, rather than replying with the name of a bus stop, he might tell me he’s going, for example, to a simchah on Rechov Yerushalayim. That would be a much more accurate answer, since his desire to attend the simchah is the only reason he got on the bus.
With his niggun, that Yid on the train was telling us, “You ask where I’m going? Yes, there is a stop on the journey where they murder Yidden. But that’s not my destination. I am traveling to the Geulah. The Nazis don’t understand this, but I know where the train is going.”
We must not get confused and frightened by the intermediate stages of our journey. We have to understand that everything we experience is part of a greater journey. When a person travels long-distance, he passes through cities and states. He drives through dark tunnels and sunny fields, up high mountains and down deep valleys. He understands that there will be many different stages in his journey.
There are countless factors that influence the process of geulah. It could come בעיתה, in its set time, or אחישנה, at an earlier time. Some of us need to do teshuvah in one way and others in another way. Each of us simply has to do the best we can to keep moving forward. If we encounter a narrow bridge or a dark tunnel, it only means that we have to work our way through as we continue our journey to the Geulah.
A Small Amount of Territory
When an army goes to war, the first goal is to conquer a relatively small amount of territory and make it fully their own. Once they have secured that gain, they’ll move on to conquer another piece of land. This is the way we have to approach avodas Hashem. Target one small part of your day — and go to war until you conquer that small segment. It may be only a small piece, but as with a small military conquest, this victory will bring you that much closer to your goal.
We shouldn’t get discouraged by the fact that Mashiach may be מתמהמה, taking time. We have endured countless hardships since the Churban, but we also have to realize that we’ve traveled very far! When a child is struggling, progress can be slow and the parents may feel ready to despair. However, if they take a moment to see the big picture, they will see things differently. True, this may be the thirty-fourth difficulty they have to deal with — but looking back, they will realize they’ve already traversed 33 difficulties.
